Linde hydrogen technology to fuel AC Transit buses

Trade News

Murray Hill & New Providence, New Jersey, U.S., June 7, 2010 — The air in California’s San Francisco Bay area is about to get cleaner as new fuel cell buses in the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) hit the road, powered in part by hydrogen from two refueling stations Linde North America is building. Linde has contracted with AC Transit to supply the hydrogen fueling technology and the hydrogen for the new stations, which will be located at AC Transit’s Emeryville and Oakland operating divisions.

Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world leading gases and engineering company and one of the world’s largest hydrogen producers. AC Transit is the transit bus operator for 13 cities in the East Bay Area, including Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley, and also operates trans-bay service to San Francisco.

Steve Eckhardt, Linde’s west coast head of Alternative Energy Business Development, said, “The Linde refueling stations will be outfitted with the latest, most efficient technology and will deliver the fastest and most reliable hydrogen fueling capability in North America, resulting in no disruption to depot operation or the surrounding community.”

Jaimie Levin, director of Alternative Fuels Policy at AC Transit, said, “AC Transit is ready to take our commitment to renewable fuels to the next level. We are confident that Linde’s refueling technology will allow us to move toward our goal of having a commercial fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses. We expect this project to prove that hydrogen fuel cell buses can perform as well or better than diesel fueled buses, while reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in excess of 40 percent.”

For these stations, Linde is using technology known as ionic compression, which uses less electricity than other hydrogen fueling stations and requires less maintenance. “Linde has used this technology successfully in stations located throughout Europe and is pleased to bring its benefits to North America,” Eckhardt said.

The Linde Ionic Compressor hydrogen fueling systems are step-changes in technology for hydrogen fuel dispensing in North America. Both units are high-performance, fast-fill dispensing systems. The IC-50 ionic bus fueling system can fill a bus with 30 kg of hydrogen in six minutes. The MF-90 car fueling system can fill an automobile in three minutes for 300-400 miles of operation. “And when these buses and cars are on the road, they produce zero tailpipe emissions, which is a major advantage of using hydrogen as an alternative fuel,” Eckhardt said.

Linde’s refueling station at AC Transit’s Emeryville site will use liquid hydrogen produced off-site and gaseous hydrogen produced from water by a state-of-the-art electrolyzer, which will be powered by renewable energy credits generated by AC Transit’s new 575-Kilowatt solar installation at its central maintenance facility. The electrolyzer is made by Proton Energy Systems, a leader in hydrogen generation systems. The station also will be able to fuel hydrogen fuel cell cars made by major auto manufacturers, including Hyundai, Daimler, Toyota, GM, and Honda.

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 48,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2009 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 11.2 billion (USD 15.3 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.

Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.